Dixon served as bishop pro tempore of the Washington Diocese in 2001 and 2002. Her tenure included a standoff with a parish whose rector refused to recognize female clergy. She filed a federal lawsuit against the pastor that was resolved in her favor.

Dixon was a stay-at-home mother when she enrolled at Virginia Theological Seminary at age 40. She became the pastor of a church in Laurel, Md., in 1982.

She was elected bishop suffragan, the second-highest rank among bishops, for the Washington diocese in 1992.